Through the Haze
by Regent Shaw
Summary: Soul begins to notice Maka in whole new ways, and is in terrible need of a distraction from his own dark thoughts concerning his meister. SoulxMaka, M rating for adult themes and situations, drug use and swearing.
1. Distraction

_1:23 am…_

Soul's eyes snapped open, light beads of sweat glimmering against his flushed skin in the pale moonlight as he pushed himself into a sitting position, his rumpled blanket falling into his lap. Turning his head slightly he glanced out over the night skyline of Death City to watch the moon chuckle eerily, as if at some unheard joke. Soul sighed and turned his gaze away, his thoughts too clouded by the dream to contemplate the humour of the scenery.

What a dream it had been. The weapons flesh still hummed with the anticipation that had been built by the dark, chaotic and enticing dream. It had been about Maka. Or at least what could have best been described as Maka, if she were to ever develope Blair's uncanny talent for making a mans blood boil by a simple word, a suggestive look, or a pleading tone. But the Maka from his dream had done far more than use words or pouty looks. Soul trembled despite himself, still not quite awake enough to get his own body back under control.

It took a few moments of listening to his own slow breathing and trying to ignore his bodies desperate cries for relief from this frustration that had been building steadily over the last few months before he raised an unsteady hand to brush agitatedly through his white hair. Sighing heavily he glanced at the clock on his bedside table, debating whether or not it was worth risking waking Maka to take a cold shower this late at night. The last thing he wanted was to have to face her with his overly detailed and graphic thoughts of her naked body against his still so very fresh in his mind.

Before he realized it, his mind had led itself back to those darkly delicious and oh so tempting thoughts of his meister; the way her pale blonde hair cascaded around her flushed face as she sighed his name, her moist lips against his bare skin, tasting every inch of him, setting every nerve ending ablaze as she wielded complete control over him, his actions, even his thoughts.

'ARGH!'

With a loud and very irritated sigh, Soul shook himself from his reverie. It wouldn't ever happen. It couldn't. They were friends, and more importantly, they were partners. They had had to depend on one another numerous times, trusting their lives to each other more times than Soul could even hope to recollect. He couldn't let a little thing like his hormones cloud up the way he felt about his partner.

'_Plus Maka would Maka Chop me into oblivion if I even suggested it…'_ He sighed again, a bit more resigned this time, and again turned his crimson eyes to the digital alarm clock on the table, its neon red numbers glaring back harshly in the darkness of the bedroom.

_1:45 am…_

The churning, roiling feeling in his stomach showed no sign of subsiding, so the Scythe pushed himself to his feet, stretching his arms over his head slowly, attempting to loosen the tightness in his shoulders. It was obvious he needed something to distract him from his own body and thoughts, but what? Glancing quickly about his bedroom he found nothing that would hold his interest long enough for him to forget this newest dream. Sadly it wasn't the first he'd had. This had become an almost nightly ritual, in which Soul would awaken at some ungodly hour of the morning, dripping with sweat, his body rigid and practically begging for some sort of release.

He had considered masturbation, but had quickly cast the thought aside, steeling his constitution.

'_Cool guys don't need to do that kind of thing….I can handle my body being stupid…_' Or so he had told himself.

But he was constantly aware of the pressure building inside him, especially when he was alone with Maka, or they had some sort of accidental contact. Like last week, they had been in the kitchen together, Soul had positioned himself on the counter across from Maka, who had been in the process of cooking dinner and was listening to him recount one of his many stories about a certain assassin. It had been perfectly fine and normal until Maka realized she needed something from the cupboard behind her weapon and instead of interrupting him to ask him to retrieve it for her, she moved to get it herself. Which had of course placed her right between Soul's legs, her hip rubbing gently against his inner thigh as she leaned past him to pull a box of stuffing from the cupboard. Despite himself, Soul's entire thought process had seized up, his breathe catching in his throat as the smell of her invaded his senses, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Why? Why did she have to get so close? And without warning? And then be completely oblivious to the reason for his flustered stammering and damn near breaking his own neck flinging himself from the countertop and ducking out of the kitchen, muttering something about having to 'use the can…' in a less than cool way.

Soul buried his face in his hands at the mere memory of that afternoon. Maka had been completely and utterly befuddled by his actions, and he couldn't blame her. They had always been comfortable in close proximity to one another, so why now, all of a sudden had he become so god damn _aware _of her? He knew very well that he respected her as a partner and cared for her as a friend, but suddenly it felt like he needed to show his appreciation of her…differently.

The low buzzing of his cell phones text alert interrupted his train of thought. He cast a sideways glance at the clock as he moved to retrieve the phone from his desk. Who would be texting him at two in the morning?

'Good ol' Black*Star…'

_YO SOUL you awake??? I'm booored! Come amuse your God!!!_

Soul snorted and shook his head, replying almost immediately;

_Sure whatever. Where u wanna meet?_

After about five minutes of texting back and forth with Black*Star and throwing on a pair of dark jeans and plain black shirt, the weapon headed for the front door of their apartment. As he pulled his keys out of his pocket, a small voice piped up in the back of his head.

'I should probably leave a note for Maka so she wont freak out if I'm not here in the morning…'

He turned on his heal and quickly spotted the stack of post it notes Maka normally had on the kitchen counter, along with the 'Property of Shibusen' pen Soul had swiped from Black*Star who had swiped it from Stein during one of his many detentions for disrupting one, if not all of Stein's classes. Chewing his lip distractedly the weapon quickly scrawled out;

_Maka-_

_Couldn't sleep, out with Star._

_See you in class._

_Soul_

Satisfied it would keep Maka from having an aneurysm; Soul quietly let himself out the front door, locking it behind him. It was only about a 5 minute walk from the apartment to Black*Star's house, and the lone weapon quietly enjoyed the calm of the early spring morning. His brain had finally started to clear when he made his way up the front stoop of Black*Star and Tsubaki's home. Not surprisingly he didn't even get the chance to raise his hand to knock on the front door when it was yanked open and Soul was greeted by the assassins signature lungpower.

'JAA-HOOOoo! SOUL! What took you so long?!' Black*Star grinned widely at the weapon, who just raised an eyebrow, far too used to this behavior to be phased by his endless energy.

'Could you yell a bit louder? I don't think the dead are awake yet.' Soul smirked, brushing past the demon blade meister and his best friend, who laughed loudly.

'The dead could only hope to be awoken by someone as purely awesome as myself!'

Snickering despite himself, Soul kicked his shoes off and wandered into the clean and tidy (thanks to a certain chain-scythe) living room, promptly flopping onto the long brown couch facing the television. He looked around the empty room, then raised a brow at Black*Star, who had followed him into the room and was now sitting crosslegged on the floor in front of the T.V. digging through a stack of game and DVD cases.

'Ne, where's Tsubaki? Don't tell me she actually left you alone and unsupervised.' The thought of Tsubaki being that irresponsible fled his mind quickly as the assassin laughed loudly, turning on the Xbox in front of him and placing a disk in the open tray.

'I gave her permission to go out with Liz and Patti. Some sort of girly get-together-and-talk-about-our-partners-and-boys-and-clothes-and-hair-and-nails…thing. She's staying the night at Kid's.' He waved the subject away as he energetically leapt to his feet and dug the large instrumental controllers out from behind the entertainment system. Soul groaned loudly.

'Man, Rock Band again?! Havent we already played through all the sets in ALL the countries?' The weapon sighed, but resigned himself to leaning forward to reach for the outstretched plastic guitar Black*Star was offering him, knowing all too well he was better off just going along with it rather than trying to fight with the meister over the matter.

Soul really didn't mind the game. He actually really liked it, especially when everyone in the group got together and played. It was fun to watch how each of their friends were particularly skilled with one instrument yet failed miserably at the others. Maka, for example, was especially good with lead guitar, at least, once Soul had taken about 20 minutes and 3 Maka Chops to show her the correct way of positioning and moving her hands about the plastic instrument in time to the notes on the screen. But no amount of tutoring or instructions could keep her from being absolutely terrible with the drums, which lead to much fun being had at her expense, leading of course to even more painful and concussion causing Maka Chops for everyone. Mostly himself and Black*Star.

Soul didn't realize he had been grinning stupidly at his own thoughts until he caught the look on Black*Star's face. The smug look that told Soul his best friend knew exactly what he had been thinking about. Clearing his throat, the scythe leaned farther forward, making a grab for the guitar controller still in the others outstretched hand. But at the last second, the assassin lifted the instrument quickly out of his reach, damn near causing him to topple off the edge of the couch.

'Dammit man! We gonna play or not?!' He fixed his red eyes on the other in a deadly glare, but Black*Star appeared not to notice. Or care. He suddenly seemed to be contemplating something, as Soul could almost hear the wheels grinding inside the others thick skull. Slowly a wide grin spread across the blue haired boys face, his green eyes lighting up as they landed on the rather timid looking weapon sitting before him.

'Ah, shit…' Soul knew that look. He also knew that whatever Black*Star had cooking in that muddled mess of a brain was more than likely going to be totally worth whatever shit he landed them in. It always was. Without a word the assassin dropped the plastic guitar on the couch next to a bewildered Soul and sprinted out of the room. He was gone only a few seconds; long enough for Soul to shrug off his paranoia and grab the guitar strap and toss it over his head, when Black*Star came skidding back into the room, his bare feet squeaking loudly on the polished hardwood floor. He was holding a small dark box, which Soul eyed suspiciously as the meister plopped himself down on the couch next to his friend, still grinning like the hyperactive tard he was.

'The hell is that?' Soul asked, raising a questioning brow as the assassin fiddled with the small latch on the front of the box.

'This, oh foolish mortal, is our pregame entertainment!' With that, he flipped open the lid of the small pencil-box sized container, revealing what looked like a rolled up plastic sandwich baggy and a small, darkly colored glass pipe. It took a moment for realization to sink in, and when it did Soul almost had to catch his own jaw to stop it from hitting the floor at mach 5. He stared in disbelief at Black*Star, who looked ever so pleased with himself and Soul's more than amusing reaction.

'…Is that..?'

'Sure is, Einstein.'

'Where…?'

'Kilik loaned it to me. Said he needed to get it out of his house for a while. He told me it was okay to help myself to some so long as I paid him back, or just let him bask in my presence at his leisure.' Black*Star was grinning again, busying himself with the contents of the box.

Soul just watched the other, a bit dumbfounded for the moment. Once he regained his composure, he sighed and leaned back against the couch cushions, deciding once again that the best plan of action was to not make a scene. What could it hurt?

It was 2:35 Thursday morning, and one thing was for certain; the dreams, and Maka, were far from his thoughts now.


	2. Slow Country

Hey hey everyone! First off I just want to say, SO SORRY for taking so long on uploading this chapter. XD Kinda had real life jump up and bite me on the ass. Lots of crap happening over the last month or so. About the chapter...well, sadly no sexings yet, but hopefully some things will be happening in the next chapter. 3 Muwahahahaa.

Disclaimer: Okay, seriously? D'you really think that if I owned Soul Eater I would be spending my free time writing smut in fanfic form instead of forcing Square Enix to extend the anime and actually make SouMaka cannon? Really?! Thats what I thought. Soul Eater and all characters belong to Atsushi Okubo.

**Chapter 2: Slow Country**

_7:00 am…_

The alarm clock had barely begun its taunting chime when it was mercilessly swatted to the floor, magically falling at just the right angle as to land directly on the 'Alarm On/Off' switch before it ricocheted away from the bed, coming to a silent stop near the foot of the dresser. Muttering words of contempt for the damnable time telling device, Maka pulled her arm back under the covers and buried her face in her nice fluffy and still warm pillow. Her fluffy, warm and wet pillow? Her brow knitting in confusion, she raised her head to gaze, still half awake, down at the soggy fabric of the pillow case. Had she really been drooling in her sleep?

Making a disgusted noise in the back of her throat, Maka slowly forced her sleep drugged body into a kneeling position, and continued to stare down at the obvious drool spots on her normally clean and tidy pillow. As her brain finally kick started itself, she yawned, pondering what could have made her drool so much in one night when she had never so much as even wet the bed on accident before.

'Either I was having one hell of a dream, or I've been living with Soul too long…' She sighed to herself, standing and slowly stretching her arms above her head, moaning and sighing loudly as she felt all the muscles in her body begin to unwind from the long night of not moving more than once or twice.

Come to think of it, what had she been dreaming about? Still in her pajamas, which consisted of an old battered and well worn grey shirt she had sneaked from Soul's room months ago, and a pair of plain blue sleep pants, Maka tried desperately to remember what she had dreamt all night. But, dreams being what they were, the more she tried to grasp any of the scattered pieces of the dream, the more they dissolved into nothing more than fragmented feelings and images. Frowning a little at her sleepy brains incompetence, she chewed her lip, still thinking. It was something about Soul, that she knew for certain.

Lost in thought, the scythe technician didn't notice the small black cat push her bedroom door open and arch her back in a long, leisurely stretch.

'Nyaa~ Good morning Maka-chyaan.' Blair yawned out sleepily.

Maka jumped a little at the sudden derailment of her train of thought. Turning to the door she smiled down at the cat, who was now sleepily rubbing her eyes with a curled paw.

'Good morning, Blair. Why are you awake so early?' Maka raised a brow, then noticed the defeated alarm clock on the floor by her feet. As Maka stooped to pick up the clock, Blair moved toward the bed, glancing around the room.

'Bu-tan thought she heard a noise that sounded like Soul-kun had snuck past her this morning and came to wake Maka-chan up himself. Bu-tan didn't want to miss anything fun so she came to check on you…' Leaping up on to Maka's now empty bed, Blair turned her gaze to the meister, smiling in a very catty way as said meister froze with her outstretched arm still holding the bruised clock, a look of confusion on her face as she processed the comment.

'That must've been me stretching you heard…and what would that have to do with So-…' The alarm clock clattered to the floor again as her brain finally clicked awake enough to flash images of exactly what that would've had to do with Soul. Blushing furiously, Maka urged her brain to go back to sleep as she turned her green glare to the cat.

'B-Blair!!' The meister briefly wondered if she could live with herself for Maka Chopping a cat, but was distracted by the white puff of smoke from her bed. Her face still burning, Maka cast a seething glance at the scantily clad woman now lounging comfortably on her bed.

'After all the noises I heard Soul-kun making last night, I'm surprised he's not in here, since I know he left his room early this morning…' Blair smiled innocently up at the technician, who narrowed her eyes back at the woman. 'Nya…Blair wishes she could hear cute boys saying _her_ name like that in the middle of the night.'

Maka felt her blush deepen intensely for a moment as previous images flooded back into her brain, which was now more awake then Maka thought possible at this hour. Had Soul really been saying her name…in _that_ way? The thought made something in her belly squirm uncomfortably, but she shrugged off the feeling quickly as she noticed the positively devious smile the cat was wearing. Ignoring the now constant burning of her cheeks, she turned back to the dresser to begin pulling out her outfit for the day, growling under her breath.

'It's normal for guys his age to have…those kinds of feelings…' She was more or less thinking out loud, trying to lead her own thoughts away from their current topic before her face melted off completely.

Yes it was normal, but if he had been feeling those kinds of things, shouldn't he at least have told Maka about them? As she changed out of her pajamas and into her normal school clothes, she decided maybe it was best to just leave it alone. It was wholly possible Blair was just trying to get under her skin, which was far too easy for the cat to do, much to Maka's dismay.

After quickly putting up her hair and checking her reflection in the mirror out of habit, she gathered her books from her desk and made her way out of the bedroom and into the living room. She stopped in front of Soul's closed door, debating whether or not to wake him before she started on breakfast. Deciding it couldn't hurt, the meister knocked gently on her weapons door before pushing it open slowly.

'Soul?' Silence greeted her. Not his usual loud snoring. Maka blinked, glancing quickly around the empty bedroom before stepping back out and checking the living room for any signs of her absent partner. A small trickle of panic started to build its way up her spine as she realized he wasn't anywhere to be found in their apartment.

'Look, Maka-chan! Soul-kun left a love letter for you!' Blair purred happily from her perch on the kitchen counter, once again in her cat form, her tail gently nudging the stack of post-it notes next to her. A wave of relief washed away that annoying trickle as Maka moved quickly across the living room to grab the small yellow parchment, choosing to ignore the feline's teasing comment as she read the hastily scrawled note. It was definitely Souls sloppy handwriting.

_Maka-_

_Couldn't sleep, out with Star._

_See you in class._

_Soul_

The apprehension she had felt before was now replaced with annoyance, knowing full well that that meant Soul was either going to be late to class, not show up at all, or spend the entire school day sleeping (and drooling) on his assignments. With an exasperated sigh, Maka crumpled the note in her fist and dropped it into the garbage can before stepping into the kitchen, searching for something quick to fix for breakfast.

The annoyance at her partner faded quickly though, and she smiled softly to herself as she retrieved the carton of milk from the fridge to pour some over her cereal.

'_At least he was cool enough to leave a note…' _

_7:47 am…_

'Man, Maka's gonna shit kittens when she finds out YOU were at school before her today.' Black*Star called down to the weapon from his current vantage point sitting on the ledge above the large front doors of Shibusen. Though he couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face at the mental image, Soul remained silent, staring up at the fluffy white clouds as he sat with his arms clasped behind his head, leaning against the doorframe below the assassin. Red eyes vague and unfocused, he let his mind wander over the last few hours' events.

_5 hours ago…_

'D'you realize what Maka'd do to me…no, US, if she ever found out we did this?' Soul watched the lighters flame dance chaotically as Black*Star cackled loudly, elbowing the weapon solidly in the ribs.

'Since when did you become so whipped?! Stop being such a pussy!' The assassin goaded him, waving the still burning lighter dangerously close to Souls face. With a huff, the flame puffed out, and the scythe smirked as Black*Star blinked in confusion at the no longer burning lighter.

'I'm not whipped. I'd just like to live to see my next birthday.' He snorted, adjusting the plastic guitar still in his lap as Black*Star flicked the lighter again and lit the contents of the glass pipe, inhaling deeply. After a short pause, the meister exploded into a rather painful sounding coughing fit as a thick cloud of strong smelling smoke filled the room. Making a disgusted face, Soul smirked as he watched Black*Star quickly recover and catch his breath, then laugh loudly (not quite as loud as usual).

'Man, that smoke is rancid…you sure Tsubaki isn't gonna notice and flip?' The weapon raised a brow at the assassin, rather amused at his friend's enthusiasm for trying to kill himself.

'Nah, we burn incense all the time so it always smells weird in here. I'll just tell her I found some new scent or something.' Black*Star pushed the little instrument of apparent lung destruction at the scythe, who eyed it wearily. 'C'mon, this is what cool guys like you and AMAZING guys like me do in their free time.' The assassin grinned, knowing a little peer pressure couldn't hurt.

Sighing in defeat, Soul took the outstretched glass piece and fixed his friend with a deadly serious gaze. 'If Maka finds out, I'll be making sure her boot lands up your ass before mine.'

'HA! Bring it on! I'm not afraid of that scrawny little bookworm!!!' Black*Star enthusiastically punched the air in front of him, while Soul grinned at the obvious lie. He knew it was impossible for anyone who was familiar with his partner's temper to not cower fear at the mere thought of her wrath. But the assassin hid it well, being the only person aside from Soul who had incurred an obscene amount of Maka Chops from the technician over the years.

Soul relaxed back into the couch cushions, gazing down at the piece in his hand. It _was_ pretty cool to be doing something as rebellious this, his friend had been right about that at least. And he knew Black*Star wasn't stupid enough to go around blabbing about something like this. Resigning himself to at least trying it first, the scythe pushed his uneasiness aside as he raised the little glass pipe to his lips.

_Kill Kong Kan Kong…_

The early bell shook Soul from his thoughts, and he stood slowly, yawning loudly as he stretched his arms up over his head. Black*Star got to his feet as well, yelling excitedly at the few students that were starting to wander up the front steps of the school.

'CHAA-HOOOOO!!! WITNESS AND BE AMAZED AT THE GREAT ME, WHO HAS COME BEFORE ALL YOU LOWLY MORTALS TO ALLOW YOU TO BASK IN MY GODLY AURA. WITHOUT ME YOUR DAY CANNOT START!!!!' The assassin proclaimed loudly, calling all attention to himself as he leapt gracefully from the ledge, landing a little harder than normal on the concrete next to Soul, who merely raised an eyebrow at the hyperactive meister. Ignoring the bemused stares from the passing students, the scythe pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, watching Black*Star push himself up from the crouch he landed in.

'C'mon Soul! Lets go bathe the classroom in my essence before everyone else shows up.' The meister turned on his heel, starting through the now open front doors. Before he took more than a step, Soul kicked his foot out quickly, catching Black*Star's next step mid-stride, effectively halting the assassins forward progress. Ripples of laughter could be heard from the few students still milling around the front door as Black*Star's face met with the solid concrete, his assailant laughing louder than everyone else before taking off down the hallway as the infuriated meister leapt to his feet.

'YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR MESSING UP A GODS FACE, YOU STUPID ASS!!!!' Black*Star shrieked after the scythe's retreating form before tearing off after him at full speed down the nearly empty hall.

Soul reached their classroom in record time, kicking the large wooden door in and diving into the first long row of desks, quickly ducking under the dark wood a split second before Black*Star skidded to a stop in the doorway, panting.

'SOUL!!! I KNOW YOU'RE IN HERE!!!! HIDING FROM THE GREAT ME WON'T HELP YOU AT ALL, CUZ I CAN SMELL YOUR FEAR AT MY AWESOME PRESENCE!!!!' The assassin boasted, leaping up onto the professor's desk, making himself a perfect target for the scythe, who jumped up from his hiding spot under the highest rise of desks (how he got all the way up there escapes me).

'BAKA!!! What you're smelling is your own B.O.!!!' Grinning wickedly, Soul grabbed for a book that had been laying on the floor under the desk, then hurled said book strait at Black*Star's head. The meister easily dodged the narrative projectile, cackling maniacally, hands on his hips.

'AHAHAHA! You think you can defeat someone as great as me with a BO—AACK!!' He had been too busy declaring his own greatness to notice the large wooden desk chair that had ricocheted squarely off his forehead. As Black*Star fell to the floor in a heap, Soul laughed loudly from his position atop the highest row of desks.

'With a chair?! Yes I think that's highly possible!!' Laughing again, the scythe watched his friend leap to his feet, pointing an accusing finger at his attacker, and damn near foaming at the mouth.

'WELL YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO THINK FOR MUCH LONGER!!!! I'M GONNA MAKE YOU PAY FOR MESSING UP MY PERFECT FACE TWICE!!!!' But before he could carry out his revenge, the door to the classroom opened again, and Maka froze in her tracks, staring in utter disbelief at her weapon and his partner in crime, apparently in the middle of some small war. Unable to control himself, whether from the drugs or lack of sleep he wasn't sure, Soul burst into another loud round of laughter at his meister's shell-shocked expression, Black*Star joining in quickly.

'Quick! Black*Star! Get some towels and hot water, I think those kittens are on their way!!!' Gasping for air, the scythe doubled over, clutching his stomach as the assassin laughed even more loudly, quickly running up the steps to join his friend in the top-most row of desks.

As her weapon struggled to regain his composure, Maka was able to finally recover from the sudden shock at finding the two delinquents not only in the class room before her, but apparently enjoying themselves immensely. Deciding it was best not to ask something that might end up being a stupid question, Maka just rolled her eyes at the apparently sleep deprived troublemakers, making her way to the seats she and Soul normally occupied. As she made herself comfortable, preparing for the long day of note taking, she slid a sideways glance at her partner, who was using Black*Star as some sort of support while he wiped tears of mirth from his crimson eyes.

He was wearing a baggy black t-shirt that had been stretched to the point of slightly hanging off of his left shoulder, doing a wonderful job of exposing his lean upper arm and collarbone, as well as the small bit of the scar that was visible just above the loose collar of the shirt. His dark grey jeans were well worn and a faded off-white around his upper thighs and hips, causing the meister's attention to linger there a bit longer than she had originally intended before she was able to force her gaze up to her partners face and hair. The black headband he was wearing was doing little to tame his messier than usual snow white mane, his bangs falling haphazardly across his lightly tanned face and partially covering his blood red eyes. Which were currently fixed on his partners emerald green ones, Maka realized with a start.

Unable to stop the blush that erupted across her cheeks, she looked away quickly, internally berating herself for letting Blair put all those ideas into her head, which was obviously the cause for her brains sudden odd behavior. Determined to find something to distract herself with, other than her partner and his sudden physical appeal, Maka stared fixedly at the blackboard in the front of the class. It didn't take long for her gaze to fall on the toppled desk chair and unkempt book lying on the floor, previously known as assassin seeking projectiles, and her brain finally click back to normal.

'SOUL!!' Her partner merely raised an eyebrow at his technician as she stood, glaring over her shoulder at him while pointing at the discarded classroom equipment in the middle of the floor. 'You made that mess, now go clean it up before Stein-hakase shows up and gives you detention again.' She fixed the scythe with a level gaze, one he returned easily, a lazy grin spread over his face.

'But Maka, I didn't do that…' Lifting his shoulder in a half shrug, he pushed his hands into his deep pockets, smirking sarcastically. 'It was my evil twin…he jumped out that window over there just before you walked in. And I'm pretty sure I heard him say something about a 'flat-chested book wor-''

'MAKA CHOP!!!' Once the ringing in his ears subsided and the tiny stars stopped flashing in his vision, Soul found himself on the floor of the classroom, face down next to the toppled chair. Black*Star was rolling with hysterical laughter at his friends misfortune from his seat next to Maka, who was calmly reading her book and looking perfectly innocent. Grunting in pain, Soul pushed himself into a sitting position, then gingerly rubbed the side of his head, checking for blood out of habit.

'Oi…would it kill you to develop a sense of humor for once in your life?' He stood shakily, grabbing the book that was next to his foot as he straitened, scowling at his partner.

'Sure would.' She answered, grinning slightly as she turned a page. Muttering under his breath, the weapon stooped to pick up the wooden desk chair beside him, and was halfway up the wide staircase to the top row of desks when the classroom door opened again, and a flustered Kid staggered in, followed closely by his two weapons and Tsubaki, who were all giggling happily about something the Shinigami obviously didn't find funny.

'Yo.' Soul raised his hand in welcome after setting the book down on the desk and dropping the chair back in its rightful place. Kid murmured a greeting as he slumped into his chair, then let his head fall forward onto the desk. Liz and Patty joined him shortly afterward, the younger weapon giggling loudly and poking her meister.

'Ne ne, onee-chan! Kiddo-kun's head makes a hollow sound just like mine when I do that!' Beaming at her brilliant observation, Patty continued giggling and prodding her apparently dead partner, quickly thinking up a song about it to hum while she continued to pester him. Liz just sighed and shook her head before turning to face the row of desks on the opposite side of the wide aisle, where Soul and Tsubaki had joined their partners in their seats, and were currently watching the trio with peeked curiosity.

'Ne, what'd you guys do to him?' Soul asked, pointing at the disheveled Kid, who was slumped over his desk and either dead or something close to it.

'Ah, well you see…' Tsubaki smiled softly from her seat beside Black*Star; 'We were all up rather late, and we sort of messed up the living room and bathroom, then we woke up too late for Kid to straighten everything before we left for school…'

'…they didn't even fold the ends of the toilet paper…' A muffled sob was heard from the ruffled remains of the Shinigami, who hadn't moved since he'd sat down, somehow ignoring all of Patty's pokes and prods (and bad singing). Soul rolled his eyes, grinning at his partner, who just shook her head and went back to reading. He wanted to ask her about the look she had been giving him before she had successfully emasculated him in front of Black*Star, but he just shrugged it off as her being spacey as he leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head.

_Kill Kong Kan Kong…_

The five minute warning bell sounded, and shortly after more of their classmates began filing in. Soul waved a greeting at Kilik as he entered the room with Fire and Thunder seated comfortably atop his shoulders, followed by Kimmy and Jackie, Ox and Harvar close on their heels. A few moments later, the classroom had filled with students, technicians and their weapons milling about, chatting with their friends and settling in for the long school day. Watching his classmates with mild (very mild) interest, Soul caught himself yawning loudly, earning him a smug smirk from his meister, who closed her book as she turned toward him.

'You know what'll happen if you don't stay awake today, right Soul?' Maka asked, smiling innocently at her scythe, which only earned her a suspicious raise of an eyebrow in return.

'I'm pretty sure I can make an educated guess.' He snorted sarcastically, putting his feet up on the desk and tilting the chair back onto its rear legs. Soul yawned again, this time on purpose as his technician gave him an exasperated huff.

'What exactly were you two doing all night?'

'You know…the usual…' Soul rolled his shoulders nonchalantly, closing his eyes and relaxing back in his chair. 'Hitting the bars, picking up chicks…' This time Maka snorted.

'Right, and Blair took me to the Chupa Cabra last night and taught me a few tricks to use on men...' She rolled her eyes at her partner, who laughed a little then flashed his pointed teeth in a wicked grin.

'Oho? Does that mean she taught you how to stuff your bra and act like a girl?' Laughing again, the scythe leaned back a bit farther, thoroughly enjoying watching his meister's temper reach the boiling point, and thoroughly expecting another pounding by that damn book. But Maka had something much better planned. Taking a deep breath and masking her anger with a coy smile, she leaned forward till her lips were about an inch from Souls ear.

'_Soul…' _ She moaned his name, quiet and breathy so only he could hear. She didn't quite know what possessed her to do it, but his reaction was better than she could have hoped for. She would have to remember to thank Blair for the idea at some point.

Soul was sure his heart had stopped. His body stiffened uncontrollably, his face suddenly burning as images from his dreams flashed as clearly as ever in his head.

'A-ah?!' The weapon barely caught a glimpse of his technicians positively devious grin before he lost his balance, the wooden chair pitching backwards on its rear legs as Soul crashed to the floor, calling the immediate attention of every living being in the classroom. A wave of laughter overtook the students, Black*Star almost joining the scythe on the floor, beside himself with amusement at his friends' increasingly bad misfortune. Maka didn't realize she had been blushing slightly, having been that close to her partner and saying his name that desperately, but she did realize that it almost seemed like all of her weapons general motor skills had completely shut down.

Soul remained on the floor, his feet still hanging over the seat of the overturned chair as he lay flat on his back on the hard tile, glaring angrily at the ceiling as the chorus of laughter finally died down. He waited another moment or two for his face to stop blazing a brilliant shade of red before he slowly sat up, refusing to look at his technician as he righted his chair and sat down heavily, ignoring the stares of his curious classmates. When he was finally sure his voice wouldn't come out shaky, he turned his red glare to his partner, who was watching him with a smug grin.

'That was so not cool…' He growled, shoving his hands into his pockets as his meister's grin widened.

'But Soul…' There was that innocent act again. 'You always seem to like it when Blair does it.'

Soul narrowed his eyes at her, opening his mouth to retort, but was cut off by the bell signaling class was now in session.

_Kill Kong Kan Kong…_

'Good morning class…' Weapon and technician jumped slightly, startled by Professor Steins' sudden appearance at the head of the class, seated as per usual on his _normally_ creaky old desk chair.

'When did he…?' Soul muttered, leaning forward against the desk, eyeing the wheels of the decrepit looking chair that normally told of their teachers coming from halfway down the hall.

'He must have greased the wheels…' Maka whispered softly, then shrugged, turning her full attention to their teacher, who was smiling eerily up at the class from behind the gleam of his glasses.

'Today, we're going to be covering the importance of physical resonance with your partners and how it affects your souls wavelengths…' As Stein rolled the chair towards the blackboard and retrieved a small piece of chalk from the tray, Soul sighed heavily, slumping back into his chair. Steeling his exhausted brain for the long and most likely boring as hell school day, the scythe turned his head to gaze longingly out the large rectangular windows lining the rear wall of the room. The sun was still low in the clear blue morning sky, its low rumbling chuckle muted through the glass as it seemed to stare right at Soul, who glared bitterly back into its beady eyes.

'…_The hell's so goddamned funny…?' _ The weapon snarled inwardly, but was quickly jolted from his staring contest with the sun by a sharp kick to his shin, courtesy of his ever so sweet technician. Wincing in pain, Soul turned his seething gaze to his partner, who returned the glare easily and pointed towards the front of the classroom, gesturing for him to pay attention.

As Soul sighed heavily, he leaned forward to rest his chin on his palm, propping his elbow on the desk and staring at the black board, where Stein had drawn a large comparison graph and was now explaining the similarities of physical resonance and soul resonance. And the weapon couldn't have cared less. All he could think about as he fixed his crimson eyes on the large clock hanging above the blackboard was how on earth he was going to make it through the day without Maka beating his skull in for falling asleep in class. Which was bound to happen, Soul thought sourly to himself, biting back another yawn and trying to will his eyes to remain open.

Okay so maybe staying up basically all night getting high and playing Rock Band with Black*Star wasn't as cool of an idea as he had originally thought. Stifling another yawn, Soul grit his teeth and attempted to force himself to pay attention to their professor.

'_Well, at least its Friday…I have the whole weekend to sleep…' _The scythe tried to distract himself from the soul-crushing (HA.) boredom that was threatening to overcome him already, and he watched the clock closely, willing the large hand to not move as slow as molasses. It was only 8:16 a.m. and it was already shaping up to be a long and drudgingly boring school day.

--Okay soooo that was the second chapter....for those of you who dont know, this is actually my first ever attempt at a fanfic of any kind. So reviews are greatly appreciated! Really and truly! I'm actually just an artist, that likes to think she can write...sometimes... :x

See you all for the next chapter!

Regent---3


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